I'm looking to either replace or rebuild my power steering pump. Right now, I dont have any money, but I'd rather go with the cheapest thing I can do that will last long. I'm looking to ebuild my power steering pump, because the o-ring on the front of the shaft is out, and it leaks out so bad within 3 days, it would be dry. I think I can get a PS pulley puller from the local auto store, so the tools will be fine.

But one question, how hard is it? What are the things needed to be done to remove and replace the rebuild parts? I may just go and get the shaft seal, because thats the place where its leaking thw worst, it may be the only place its leaking from right now.

I tried a puller, and after breaking it and the pulley, I just got a rebuilt and called it a day. There's just some things NOT worth rebuilding...... I forgot, THEN you have to put the pulley back on too!

Removing and replacing the pulley isn't too bad, if you have the right puller. This is a helpful article on using the puller. Most rebuilt pumps don't have the pulley so you have to reuse your old one.

If your good at taking things apart, and putting them back together again I would say get an o-ring kit, (NAPA has them) and reseal the unit. If not, get a new one. I did my SS pump for $10 about 5 years ago. I wanted to keep the original pump just incase there are valving and pressure differences due to it be an SS, I could be wrong, but mechanically the pump was, and still is in perfect shape, even at 175,000 miles, so I just put in all new o-rings, it is not that hard, but you have to pay attention to detail, be clean and carfull. I already had the pulley puller/installer tool so that helped.

I'm good at taking alot of things apart and putting them back together, yes. I'd rather rebuild than replace, because I will not have enough money for a replace. I was thinking about a complete rebuild for the PS pump, like all the seals that come in a kit.

Also, on the steering gear box that is on the end of the steering shaft, I have been seeing some fluid escape out of there onto that plastic cover, is that normal? Would that be an easy fix?

Edit: I have read all of your replies, and thank you for the suggestions, but I'd rather go for a rebuild, because its cheaper, I will learn more, and there is no G-Bodies in any salvage yards around here right now, and if there would be, they might already be gutted.

What kinda PS pump pulley puller do I need to remove the puller of the PS pump? Do I really have to remove the pulley to get the PS pump off and rebuilt. Because theres other PS pump pulley pullers at orielys, and nobody can really tell me which one I can use, and whats better to use.

I know, but does it matter which kinda pulley puller it is? Because the local orileys store has them, you can rent them free, no buy them or pay any kinda money. I will be using one of them, but I dont know which ones will work.

I used a master puller/installer set from kastar tools that I got from one of the internet stores for a reasonable price several years ago. Some stores do have a master set and it does matter which you use. Do a search for power steering pump pullers and that should give you an idea of what you need to ask for. Check with Advance Auto also. Jim.

Try to get as close as possible to the original pulley position on the pump shaft so the PS belt is aligned properly. Don't return the tool until you have checked the alignment with the engine running. You can put a straight edge on the crank pulley and get you pretty close. Sometimes when you mount the pump the brackets will need to be adjusted to insure the pump and belt are in the same plane as the crank pulley. Bob

Well, I took the pump down to AZ, and they pulled the pulley off, because first of all, it was not free, and if the guy broke it, I wouldnt be paying for the tool. I got mostly everything repbuilt, and plan to repaint the PS jug and pulley.

I will try to upload some pictures later, the PS internals were gunky and nasty, well it was nearly just gunk and crap, because I wanted to wait till it was almost empty, but not empty. Unfortunitly, I may need a high pressure hose, but it'll have to wait, because I'm not 100% sure it is bad, yet.

Ok, now this sucks, big time! I get it all finished, and go for a drive, no powersteering, not from the start up. I put everything back in the pump, all gaskets, everything (well installed the new gaskets), no sqeals, it did leak for a couple of seconds, till I tightend the loose hose, but nothing else, doesn leak now.

YEA, you gotta bleed the air out! Do this by putting the front of the car in the air so both front wheels are off the ground, fill the pump, start car and slowly turn steering wheel from full left to full rght, stop engine check/add fluid,repeat.Once all the air is out, is will be quite and the fluid level will stabilize. I hope that is all your problem is.

^ Thank you! I figured I had to bleed it, but couldnt figure out how. I will do that today.

Keith, I put everything back in order, just lke when I took it apart, also, I had the directions diagram to look at.

Hopefully I get it working, because I couldnt even imagine having no power steering, untill last night, just trying to turn the car was hard enough to actually use 2 hands to do small sharper turns, like to turn on zig-zag roads.

Well, some not soo good news. I tried to bleed the PS pump for about 10 minutes, nothing. Just reving it up, and turning, nothing. The steering felt nearly the same, maybe a tad bit harder/stiffer. I will try it again later, because right now is really hot outside, and bugs are everywhere.

Let us know what u find out. In theory the bleeding of the system should cure it. Air will cause these problems. U can also plug the return line at the pump and put the return line from gear box into a bottle for a few turns back and forth. It will help keep air bubbles from being reintroduced into the reservoir.

Also, I see u r n Florida, whats humidity? High humidity can get moisture into an unsealed system and cause similar problems but a good bleeding should cure that. I'd say prob just needs bled a little more. Hope thats all it is.

Well, went to a friend of mine, and the only thing he could say, is just the pump. It could be the gear box, but we highly doubt it, because it would still move with power steering. Well, I'm going to try a couple more things, like mentioned above, if that dont work. I'm just going to have to deal with no pwer steering for awhile (I will not borrow money from anybody, even if I pay them back, I'm just not like that). I may take the PS pump off again, and check it out, maybe its just too much air in the system, or something clogging it (dont see how, because I wiped all the crap off, and out of the ports).

It doesnt seem liek there are ANY air bubbles at all, I rev it up while near the pump, and nothin g seems to change. I did notice that the PS fluid seemed to rise a tiny bit, but nothing major. It seems to be a tad bit harder to turn the wheel when I drive it around when at idel or near idle.

I may go out of my way, and buy a new one, I will not feel good for awhile after that, but I may just do it. Maybe next week or whenever I have some extra money. Also, I dont think humidity would be a big part of it, yes its humid, but not that bad. Also, I just had the lines/hoses open for one night, also, they were covered so no lil' critter would be stupid and crawl in the lines.

No air bubbles? Even a normal operating system will have bubbles. Belt is on, right? sounds dumb I know. I'm gonna say piston in pump is sticking because it should have some air in the reservoir. May have to pull it apart again to find out why the pump isnt working.

Yea, maybe a tiny bit of air at first, but I didnt notice any. It looks like clean normal fluid to me, not brown or even red. Maybe it is sticking, because it would have changed the fluid color with the old fluid in the gear box.

Edit: Yes the belt is moving, the pully in moving aswell. I put PS fluid on the gaskets/seals, so honestly, I dont see why there is a problem. I guess I'll just take it apart, I wont take it 100% apart, just the piston, because thats the only thing I see that could be a problem. Maybe the new seals got it stuck closed or something, but they seem to be the right ones. I will prolly take it off tonight, and work on it tomarrow, or maybe take it off tomarrow and work on it tomarrow. Here are some pictures of when I first took it apart,